The role of movement and information processing in the response time of sportsmen and nonsportsmen

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Psychology
Degree name
Master of Arts
Publisher
University of Canterbury
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
English
Date
1973
Authors
McNeill, Paul Murray
Abstract

Sportsmen were found to have faster response times than non sportsmen in tasks with varying levels of stimulus display complexity. The difference between the response times of sportsmen and nonsportsmen was found to increase with an increase in the movement component of the response but the difference was not affected by an increase in information processing. No difference was found in the effect of training on the two groups. It was concluded that the shorter response times of sportsmen relate to the movement component of the response rather than the information processing component. The problems of relating differences in reaction time between sportsmen and non­sportsmen to a theoretical model of reaction time are discussed and suggestions are made for further investigations into the role of information processing and into the role of physical fitness.

Description
Citation
Keywords
Human information processing, Reaction time, Sports--Physiological aspects
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
All Rights Reserved